Lock-attaching means



y 17 s. HAMMER LOCK ATTACHING MEANS 2 sheets-sheen 1l Filed July 13,1926 xNvENToR Zmmfr ATTORNEY y 17 s. HAMMER LOCK ATTACHING MEANS FiledJuly 13. 192e 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented May 17,- 1927.,V

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

, SAMUEL HAMMER, OE BROOKLYN; NEW YORK, AssIGNOR To UNITED METAL nox coING., OE LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OE NEW YORK.

Locx-ATTACMINel MEANS.

'Application mea July 13,

.This invention 'relates tol lock attaching' means, and has for itsvprimary object to provide simple and inexpensive means forV quickly; andSecurely attaching a lock to the door or closure of a mail box or othervreceptacle but which, in the eventthat the fv lock should become brokenor for other reasons fail to operate, will permit of the detachment orremoval of the lock Without mutilation of the door structure andthesubstitution of a new lock in its place.

Locks ofthe character generally used upon doors of mail boxes orreceptacles, are of simple construction and relatively inexpensive..Heretofore, if the door wasflocked and the locking mechanism was out oforder so' that the door could not) be opened, in order to remove thelook from the inner side of the door, it has been necessary to'cut' iaway the door plate, since in the modern v type of such mailreceptacles, the hinge connection between the door and the bodystructure of the receptacle is inaccessible.' Consequently, it wasnecessary not only to provide anew lock, but an entire newl door. Thesebox doors are constructed of heavy sheet brass, andare more or lessexpensive so that such replacement of an entirely. new door for the mailbox compartment resulted in a material addition to the initial' costthereof. The'locking device however, be-

ing comparatively cheap, in case said device is totally destroyed in itsremoval from the door, it can be replaced at a fraction of the cost of anew door. v

In onev practical embodiment of my .-present vinvention whe eby theabove purpose is attained, a reinforcingplate of sheet steel is securelyfixed to the inner face of f the door. I provide this plate adjacent one`of its endswith yieldable tonguesstruck from the plane thereof andsuitably spaced lugs. The lock case is positioned between these lugs andhasitsside walls disconnected from the end Vwalls of the case andprovidedl with apertured. ears to receive .said tongues. After the .lockhas thus been' applied, the tongues are forced under pressure from theirnormal positions and caused to bear against theedges of the apertures insaidears so that the side Walls ofthe lock case are sprung outwardl fromtheir normal ypositions and into tight abutting contact -ture. Should itbecome necessary to remove the lock and substitute a new one thereforsaid loendable or yieldable tongues, anew 1926. serial No. 122,089.

between thel spaced lugs. In this manner, the lock case will be rigidlyheld or fixed 1n position on the inner side of the door and with thelock barrel receiving projec- Atiori on the front of the -case disposedin -a suitably formed opening in the door strucwhile the door is inlocked position, by means of a suitable tool sufficient pressure 1sexerted against the cylindrical lock barrel casing to force the lockbodily away from the inner face of the door, said ears riding againstthe :yieldable tongues and forcing said tongues back to their formerpositions. Of course, .in removing the lock in this manner, the lockbolt which projects into-the keeper 'opening in the body wall of the boxwill probably vbe broken or badly distorted and it would not beprofitable to attempt to repair the lock. However, by -means of.-

lock may be easily and quickly substituted and attached to the door. e

In another embodiment of my invention, I may provide a rclatively'thinlplate of sheet metal having its marginal portion welded orotherwisesecured tov the inner faceof the door its intermediate portion. spacedtherefrom and provided wi-'"2 slot to receive suitable attaching boltsfor the lockcasc. The headed ends of -the bolts are positioned betweensaid .plate and the iuner face of the door, and by applying thenecessary pressure against the outer side of the lock, said metal platewill yield to such pressure, the bolt heads being forced through theslot, the edges of which will be bent or broken.` In this case, if' it-is not possible to straighten said plate for the sol ' attachment of anew lock,'the plate may be thedrawings, wherein VI have illustratedseveral simple and satisfactory embodiments of the invention. and 1nwhich similar reference characters designate corresponding partsthroughout the several.views,

Figure 1 is a fragn'ientary front elevation of a mail box door having alock applied thereto;

Fig. *2 is a rear elevation showing the attaching means for the lock;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a slightly modified forni ofthe device;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on the line 6 6 of Fig; 5, and

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5, the lock being detached.

Referring in detail to the drawings. and for the present moreparticularly to Figs. l to 4 thereof, the door 5 as herein shown is of amore or less conventional type now commonly used in connection withmulticompartment mail boxes or receptacles designed for installation inoffice or apartment buildings. hotels and similar structuresaccommodating a large number of tenants. It is the-usual practice tosecurely attach to the inner face of each comparti nient door of. themail box adjacent its free end a suitable lock, the bolt of whichengages in an opening or mortise provided in the bottom wall of the boxstructure adjacent its front edge. Such a locking devlce, I have hereingenerally indicated at 6. I do not, however, directly attach this lockto the inner face of the door, but there is secured upon the inner faceof said door and practically entirely covering the same a reinforcingplate 7 of sheet steel. This plate at the end edge thereof adjacent thefree end edge vof the door is recessed or cutaway as at 8 and at theopposite endsof said recess the lugs 9 are provided and extend at rightangles to the plane of the door.- Spaced from each of these lugslongitudinally ofthe plate 7, said plate is provided writh a second lug1() struck from the plane of the plate. Preferably, these latter lugsare separated from the plate only at their inner opposed ends. the otherend-and side edges thereof remaining integrally connected with saidplate, and said lugs being substantially of semi-circular crosssectional form as indicated in Fig. 3 of the drawing.

Between'each pair of spaced lugs 9 and -l0, tongues 11 are struck fromthe reinforcing plate 7 so that they normally project from the innerface of said. plate at right angles to the plane thereof as shown indotted lines in Fig. 4.

The door 5 is provided with a circular opening 12 therein for thepurpose of receiving the cylindrical projection on thev front wall ofthe lock case in whichthe lock barrel is mounted, and as herein shown,the

and any other desired means may be utilized' for this purpose.'

The mechanism of the lock 6 is of course, enclosed within a suitablecase, and as herein shown the opposite side walls 14 of this lock caseare free or disconnected at their opposite ends from the end walls ofthe case as clearly indicated in Fig. 4 of the drawings and the frontlongitudinal edges of said side walls are also free or unattached fromthe front plate 15 of the latch case. -()n these front longitudinaledges of said side walls 14 at the center thereof, the laterally`projecting ears 16 are formed. Each of these ears has an elongatedopening or slot 17 therein for the purpose of. receiving one of thetongues 11 on the reinforcing plate 7.'

In the use of the above described form of my inventionyit .beingunderstood that normally the side walls 14 of the lock case are inparallel relationwith each other and that the tongues 11 in thereinforcing plate 7 project inwardly therefrom at right angles to theplane of the door, the lock is positioned upon the inner side of theplate 7 between the spaced pairs of lugs 9and 10 and the tongues 11 areengaged through the openings 17pf the respective ears 16. These tonguesthus serve as guides, directingthe cylindrical lock barrel receivingprojection 18 on the front wall 15 of the lock case into the dooropening l2.- The tongues 1l are now spread apart or forced laterallyunder pressure to the oblique position seen in Fig. 4 of the drawings,and thereby are caused to coact with the outer edges of the Slots 17 andexert an out-ward lateral pressure against the ears 16, thus expandingthe side wallsv 14 of the latch case outwardly and simultaneouslydrawingthe case bodily into tight contacting engagement with the innerface of the plate 7 and causing said side walls 14 of said case at theiropposite ends to tightly abut against the lugs 9 and 10. vIt willtherefore, be apparent that the lock case will be very rigidly fixed andheld in its applied position against all ordinary forces which mighttend to displace the lock. in the use of the structure to which it isapplied.

Assuming that the lock bolt is in its projected locking position thusholding the door lclosed and preventing access to the receptaclecompartment, and that for some reason thev lock mechanism-fails tooperate when.

lthe proper key is inserted so that the bolt cannot be retracted, itthen becomes necessary to entirely remove the lock from the door. Thismay be readily done by applying ya' suitable tool against the outerendof the cylindrical extension or housing 18 of the lock barrel and/bytheapplication of several hammer blows, causing suflicient inward pressurewhereby the ears 16 will vride against the yieldable tongues 11 andreturn said tongues to their former normal positions thus enabling theears to be readily disengaged therefrom. In this manner, it will be seenthat the lock in its entirety may be very readily detached from the doorWithto be welded or otherwise securely-fixed to Cn i the inner face ofthe door. Thus, it :will be understood that the body portion 21 of .thisplate is spaced from the inner face of the door. This body portion ofthe plate is provided witli a circular opening 22 therein to 'coincidewith the openingl in the door plate which receivesy the cylindricalbarrel housing of the lock case and is also formed with slots 23extending horizontally from the opposite sides of saidopening.

The lockcase is adapted tobe` applied with itsv front wall engagedagainst the body 21 of theplate 19, the front wall of said case havinganges 24 apertured to receive attaching bolts 25. These bolts at one oftheir ends are provided with enlarged circular heads 26, the peripheriesof which are preferably rounded or convex as shown in headv 26, arectangular portion 27 is formedupon the shank of the bolt forengagement Vin one of the slots 23 whereby the attaching bolts will beheld against turning or rotative movement. Nuts27 are threaded upon theends of said bolts and are adapted to -be adjusted for tight'clampingengagement against the, flanges 24 wherebythe lock case is rigidly heldin `fixed relation to the plate 19. It will of course, be .understoodthat the l attaching bolts may be lfirst readily appliedv by positioningthe heads 26 thereof through the opening 22 of the` plate 19 thenmoving'- said bolts into the respective slots 23 with the bltheadspositioned between v"the plate l 19 and the door plate. In thisconstruction,

whenever it becomes necessary to remove the lock, the necessary pressureis'PPhed S0 ments of 1n that the relatively thin metal plate 19 willyield, and the'bolt heads 26 will be forced through the slots 23. Thesebolt heads are of course, of greater diameter than the width l of saidslotsv so that in thus forcing said bolt heads through the slots theedges/of said slots will bedistorted and possibly broken. However, ifnecessary the plate 19- can be readily replaced at smallexpense incomparison with the cost of an entirely new door.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the construction, manner of use and severaladvantages of the illustr'ated embodiinvention will be clearlyunderstood.; t will be seen that I have de- Avised very simple andexpensive means for attaching the lock to the door which is. en-

tirely inaccessible when the door is closed and locked but. which,nevertheless, admits of the complete detachment of the lock withoutmutilating or defacing the door structure. For reasons which will beyapparent, the disclosure contained in Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings ispreferred, since 'it is most economical both as yto the initial cost andmaintenance thereof. cases where the projecting tongues 11 might befound objectionable, the construction last However, in somel describedmay be employed. Also, in addition to these two constructions to which Ihaves eciically referred, it Will 4be apparent that t e essential'features of this invention are susceptible of embodiment in othervalternative structures. Accordingly, it is to be understood that I.reserve vthe privilege of resorting to all such legitimate changes inthe form, constructiony andrelative arrangement of the several parts asmay be fairly incorporated within the spirit and scope of the inventionas claimed.

' 1.- In' combination with a closure member having an opening therein, alock attaching element secured to the inner side of said clo- Fig. 6 ofthe drawings and adjacent to the sur@ member Said Opening `iid-Pwd t0eCeVe ber, and said attaching element and the, lock case having,coacting relatively yieldable lmeans to yieldably retain the lock. inits applied position, and said yieldable means ilo yielding upon theapplication of inward pressure against said outwardly projecting. partof the lock whereby the lock may be forcibly detached from the closuremember.

2. In combination with a closure mem- 'ber having an openingtherein, alockadapt-- i ed to be mounted upon` the innerfside of saidclosuremember provided with a part to project through 'said` opening,- aplate secured upon the inner side ofthe closure'fi lee member yandhaving parts yieldable underir pressure, and meansconnected with thelock 'l forcibly `detached from the closure member.

2E. In combination with a door havingg` an openingr therein, a lockadapted to be mounted on the inner side of the ydoor and provided wlth apart to project through said opening, spaced lugs on the inner side otthe door between which the lock is adapted to be positioned,'/the lock'case having outwardly yieldable side walls opposed to said lugs, membersprojecting from the inner face o'tf the door and yieldable underpressure, each ot' said side walls of the flock case having means withwhich said members are adapted to be forced-into ycoacting engagement tolexpand the side walls of the latch case outwardly into` abuttingcontact with said lugs, and .said members yielding under an inward`pressure applied against said projecting part of the lock to therebyforcibly detach the lock from the door.

4;. In combination with a door having an opening therein, a lockadapted. to be mounted on the inner side of the door provided with apart to project through said openinur a plate fixed to the inner side ofthe doi' and having spaced yieldable projections between which the lockis adapted v to be positioned, and the side walls of the with which saidprojections coaet to tiXedly retain the lock in its applied position,and said projections yielding under an inward pressure applied againstsaid outwardly projecting part of the lock whereby the lock may beforcibly detached from the door.

5. In combination with a door havingl an opening therein, a lock adaptedto be mount ed upon the inner side of the door provided with a part toproject through said opening, t-he lock case having outwardly vieldableside walls and said reinforcing plate pro vided with spaced pairs ot'lugs between which the lock case is adapted to be arranged, said platealso having spaced yieldable tonguesI struck therefrom and said sidewalls of the latch caseprovided with apertured ears to receive saidtongues whereby when said tongues are bent under-'pressure in onedirection, the side walls of the latch ase are expanded "into abuttingengagement against said lugs, and said tongues adapted to yield to aninward pressure applied against said projecting Lpartof the lock toforcibly detach the lock `from the door.A

bln testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signedmy name hereto.

SAMUEL HAMMER.

